Weekly rankings
Where does your team stand? Updating the 12 Texas FBS college football teams after the final regular season games
Nov 26, 2017, 7:46 am
TCU stands alone as the best in the state. Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Texas has 12 FBS teams. Each week we ranked them based on season-long performance, the prior game, and success relative to their level. These are the rankings after the final regular season games. Eight of the 12 are bowl eligible, but the bottom four combined to go 4-44, averaging one measley win per team. We will do one more update after the bowl season.
No. 12: UTEP (0-12)
The Miners completed a winless season with a 28-7 loss to a UAB team that did not exist a couple years ago. It was a brutal year start to finish, including a coaching change midseason. Serious overhaul time.
No. 11: Rice (1-11)
The Owls dismal season came to a fitting end with a 30-14 home loss to a solid North Texas team. David Bailiff has done a nice job with the team in the past, but two awful seasons probably means the end of his tenure.
No. 10: Texas State (2-10)
The Bobcats, like the teams below them, were terrible this year, going just 2-10. All three should be relegated to FCS.
No. 9: Baylor (1-11)
The Bears showed a little life against TCU, but ultimately dropped a 45-22 decision. The Bears, too, should be relegated. That's something soccer gets right. The real question is can this team be anything other than Kansas (the only win this season) without cutting corners and allowing one of the most disturbing scandals in college football history? The future looks uncertain.
No. 8: UTSA (6-5)
What started out as a promising season went to hell over the second half. A 6-5 mark has to be considered a disappointment for a program that looked to be on the rise.
No. 7: SMU (7-5)
The Ponies finished off a 7-5 season with a 41-38 shootout win over improving Tulane. The bigger question is will Chad Morris continue to be the coach? He did about as well as could be expected at a school like SMU, and there are lots of big jobs available.
No. 6: Texas (6-6)
Tom Herman's first season has to be considered a disappointment. A one-game improvement over Charlie Strong's last season was not what was expected of Herman. Seasons like 5-7 and 6-6 were rarities at Texas for decades. Is the program simply not what it was? Herman should make a big jump in year two, but there was not much different about the Longhorns in 2017, and they should never be lower than third on this list.
No. 5: Texas Tech (6-6)
Kliff Kingsbury saved his job and got the Raiders bowl eligible by upsetting Texas. It was a weird, up and down year for Tech, which got wins over Arizona State, Houston and Texas but also featured several poor performances against better teams.
No. 4: Houston (7-4)
This season screamed Tony Levine. Waiting too long to change quarterbacks, dropping close games to Tech and Memphis and puzzling tail whippings by Tulsa and Tulane. That simply is not good enough for Major Applewhite, and things must improve. Houston has every advantage in the AAC and seven wins won't cut it. They did close out with a good victory against Navy 24-14 and D'Eriq King looks like the next big thing at QB but like Texas, more is expected.
No. 3: Texas A&M (7-5)
The Aggies were pummeled by LSU again, 45-21 this time. Talent wise, they are every bit as good as LSU. Buth they made silly mistakes, turned the ball over and the Kevin Sumlin era likely ended with another loss to the Tigers.
No. 2: North Texas (9-3)
It seems high, sure. And could they beat many of the teams behind them? Probably not (after all, they did lose to SMU.) But the Mean Green won their division of C-USA and get to play Florida Atlantic for the conference championship. FAU stomped them the first time around but they are one of just two Texas teams who will be playing for something next week. A strong season for Seth Littrell, who will get some interest from bigger schools as well.
No. 1: TCU (10-2)
The Frogs get another shot at Oklahoma in the contrived Big 12 Championship game. It might only serve to knock the Big 12 out of the playoffs if TCU can win (and they can). A two-loss TCU probably has no shot at the top four, considering they would have to, um, leap frog (see what I did there?) a 1-loss Alabama, a 1-loss Clemson or Miami, a Big 10 champ and an SEC champ. That Iowa State loss looms big. Still, another excellent season from Gary Patterson and his crew.
L.J. Cryer scored 14 points, Milos Uzan added 12 points and six assists, and No. 6 Houston beat Baylor 76-65 on Monday night for its third straight victory.
Terrance Arceneaux had 11 points and J’Wan Roberts scored 10 for Houston (20-4, 12-1 Big 12). Emanuel Sharp also finished with 10 after missing two games with an ankle injury.
The Cougars shot 51% and went 10 of 24 on 3-pointers. They reached 20 wins for the 10th consecutive season.
Norchad Omier scored 19 points and Langston Love added 15 for Baylor (15-9, 7-6), which shot 58% — including 9 of 15 on 3s. VJ Edgecombe had 14 points and Robert Wright III finished with 10.
Baylor lost its third straight road game and fell to 0-4 against ranked opponents in true road games this season.
Takeaways
Baylor: The Bears missed an opportunity to add a marquee win and fell to 4-8 in Quad 1 games. Baylor’s lack of depth came into play as Houston outscored the Bears’ bench 24-1, and three starters played at least 35 minutes.
Houston: The Cougars improved to 5-3 in Quad 1 games and remained atop the Big 12 standings.
Key moment
Uzan hit a 3-pointer that sparked a 10-1 run and gave the Cougars a 26-16 lead with 7:53 remaining in the first half. Houston’s lead never dipped below six the rest of the way.
Key stat
Houston, which entered forcing more than 14 turnovers per game and ranking in the top 10 nationally with a 5.2 turnover margin, forced Baylor into 15 turnovers and converted them into 28 points.
Up next
Houston visits No. 13 Arizona on Saturday, while Baylor hosts West Virginia the same day.